Braces
by Blonde Archer
Summary: Ever wonder why Legolas has perfect teeth? Is it because he's an elf? That's what he would want you to think. The REAL reason behind his breathtaking smile is he had...BRACES!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Ok this is just something totally random I made up! I'm not sure how this will turn out... This takes place when Legolas was young, in human years he would be a teenager, and at the time he was best friends with Arwen or at least he is in this story.  
  
Disclaimer: I own the contents of an empty jar, nothing more, and nothing less.  
  
Braces  
  
Arwen Evenstar was doubled over in laughter.  
  
"It's not funny!"  
  
"Then why am I laughing so hard?"  
  
Her best friend, Legolas was fuming.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry Mellon nin. But please, can you open you're mouth one more time?" Arwen said as calmly as she could.  
  
"Why, so you can laugh at me again?" came Legolas's reply, as he held his hand over his mouth.  
  
"I wouldn't do such a thing"  
  
"You just did."  
  
Despite all this, Legolas reluctantly removed his hand and opened his mouth, revealing a very shiny set of braces. Arwen roared with laughter.  
  
"IT'S NOT FUNNY!!!"  
  
"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. It's just...they look...funny."  
  
"What do you mean "funny"? While Legolas wasn't the most vain elf in Middle Earth, he did care about his appearance more than other elves his age.  
  
"Well, to start off with, they're very...shiny." Arwen said stupidly.  
  
"Well thank you Captain Obvious! Like I didn't know that already." Legolas was in a terrible mood thanks to his father, who claimed, "A future king of Mirkwood can't go prancing around with crooked teeth!"_ I do _NOT_ have crooked teeth!_ Legolas thought.  
  
"Are you hungry, Legolas?" Arwen asked, "I'm starving!"  
  
"I suppose I could use something to eat..."  
  
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"Are you sure that was necessary?" asked one of King Thranduil's advisors.  
  
"Of course it was!" Thranduil exclaimed, "I can't have my son walking around with teeth as crooked as fencepost. It would look bad."  
  
"Whatever you say..." the advisor trailed off.  
  
Deep inside, Thranduil did wonder if he had done the right thing. Did he really want to put Legolas through all the pain and humiliation that came with braces? Did he really want to spend all that money on something that would make his son hate him? _He will appreciate it all when_ _he's older,_ the king thought, or rather, hoped.  
  
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"So, what do you want to eat?" Arwen asked.  
  
"I don't know," Legolas sighed. "Something soft; my teeth are killing me!"  
  
"Um...How about some stew?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Arwen set to work making some kind of soupy substance (she wasn't the best cook at the time) and Legolas just sat there, trying to ignore the throbbing pain. When Arwen turned around, she was startled to see Legolas staring off into space, his mouth agape.  
  
"Legolas," she asked timidly, "Are you alright?"  
  
He started, as though awakened from a dream. "What? Oh, I'm ok. My teeth just hurt."  
  
"Right."  
  
"Really, that's why my mouth was open! My teeth hurt whenever they touch something, including other teeth." Legolas winced after saying this, cursing his sore teeth.  
  
"Poor Legolas," Arwen said teasingly while helping herself to a cup of ice, which she promptly began chewing, "Want any?" She offered the cup to Legolas.  
  
"I would," he began, speaking carefully, "But not only do my teeth hurt too bad to chew anything at the moment, the orthodontist said that I can't eat or chew ice."  
  
Arwen looked shocked. "Why?"  
  
Legolas shrugged. "Something to do with the ice messing up the glue that holds the brackets on. I wasn't really listening."  
  
"I just hope I don't have to get braces anytime soon." Legolas smiled, only to get his lip caught in his braces. Arwen had a fondness for ice, to say the least. She was constantly chewing it, and Elrond was constantly scolding her for doing so. He said that it would wreck her teeth. She just shrugged him off, which really drove him mad.  
  
"Well are you almost done cooking? I'm starving."  
  
"Yeah, it's almost ready."  
  
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A/N: I hope that wasn't too bad. It gets better, I promise! The first chapter didn't go as planned, but oh well. Introductions aren't always the best part of the story. Please review and tell me what you think! 


	2. Chapter 2

Ok I'm back with another chapter! Sorry about the long wait, but I went on vacation for a few days and am now helping out at our church's Vacation Bible School every evening. And my sister has been hogging the computer and being real stingy about it. Anyway... Thanks goes out to all the people who reviewed! I'm going to respond to a couple:  
  
Mariette: Yes I was kind of planning on that already in future chapters. But you know what they say, "Great minds think alike!" I have rubber bands right now and they are extremely fun to shoot at people!  
  
BabyBoo0968: This is actually a response to your email... I like the flashback idea a lot. I don't know when I'll put it in but I think I'm going to use it. Thanks!  
  
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Disclaimer: Any characters you see and recognize are most likely someone else's, not mine.  
  
Legolas woke up the next morning with a throbbing headache. At first he was puzzled; elves don't usually get headaches since they never get sick, but yesterday's events soon came flooding back to him. He put his tongue on his teeth, hoping it was all a dream. It wasn't. He had braces, and they weren't coming off anytime soon.  
  
He sighed, wondering again why he had to have braces. The question had been bothering him for some time now. And why didn't any other elves have braces? To him they seemed very un-elven.  
  
Resigned to his fate, Legolas slowly walked out of his bedroom to a breakfast he wouldn't be able to eat.  
  
"Hiya Legolas!" said Arwen, "Still got those braces, huh?"  
  
Arwen's morning cheeriness annoyed Legolas today. "Of course I still have my braces! Where would they go?" he said grumpily.  
  
Arwen mumbled something under her breath and walked away to find someone who wouldn't be so rude.  
  
Legolas sat down at the table and tried to eat something, failing. "Well," he said to himself, "Looks like I'll have to starve for two years until I get my braces off."  
  
His father came over to greet him. "Why don't you smile for your old man, huh? Let's see those braces of yours!"  
  
Legolas rolled his eyes and forced a smile.  
  
"Yes, that's my boy! The only elf in Mirkwood to have braces! You're a special elf Legolas! You get to be the first to try them out!"  
  
"Good for me," Legolas said unenthusiastically.  
  
"Oh Legolas! Quit being so upset!" Arwen was back, eyeing the food on Legolas's plate. "They're not THAT bad...By the way, are you going to eat that?"  
  
Legolas shoved his plate into Arwen's hands. Braces were bad. They were terrible. No one seemed to understand that though. Everyone thought that they were the best things in the world. They would sure change their minds if they had to wear them, Legolas thought.  
  
Dejectedly, the Mirkwood prince walked out of the dining hall and back into his room, grabbing his bow and some arrows. A little archery will take my mind off the pain, he thought.  
  
Archery turned out to be a terrible choice.  
  
At the shooting range, there were some other elves his age. They paid no attention to him, and he ignored them. It went on fine like this until he opened his mouth, cursing under his breath as his arrow missed the target yet again. The sun glinted off his braces and that was all that the other elves needed to see.  
  
They came running over instantly.  
  
"What's in your mouth?"  
  
"Did I see a glint of metal?"  
  
"Why do you have metal in your mouth?"  
  
Legolas sighed. "I have braces."  
  
"What are those?"  
  
"Can I see?"  
  
"Open your mouth!"  
  
Legolas did so, and the teasing began.  
  
"Metal mouth!"  
  
"Tinsel Teeth!"  
  
"Brace Face!"  
  
Legolas got his things and went to his room, locking himself in. Why was his father doing this to him? Why couldn't he be normal?  
  
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around to see Arwen.  
  
"How did you get in here?" he asked surprised.  
  
"Your window. But that's not the point. I saw those kids out there calling you names, but you need to ignore them. You can call them all sorts of names when you get your braces off."  
  
"Like..." Legolas prompted.  
  
Arwen thought for a moment. "Well... You'll have straight teeth and they won't so... Crooked Teeth?"  
  
Arwen's lame attempt to make him feel better actually worked. Legolas laughed, causing Arwen to laugh (no she wasn't laughing at his braces....). Arwen was the one person who could really cheer Legolas up.  
  
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A/N: Yeah, I know, it wasn't the best chapter, but it was one of those rather boring chapters that are necessary in telling a story. It'll get better. I have a few things I'd like to say about Arwen:  
  
She is very out of character in this story. I didn't really intend her to be, but that's just how she turned out, so I'm now starting to base her on one of my friends...  
  
I don't really know why she's at Mirkwood. Maybe she's visiting with her father?  
  
I'm sorry if you don't like the way I made her in this story. Anyways, wow I wrote this all while my friend was asleep...she spent the night and should wake up sometime soon! Oh yeah, REVIEW!  
  
Also what do elves eat? I don't really know, so if you do, tell me through a review or email me. Thanks! 


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